Descent
by Lyndsay-Marie
Summary: The descent into insanity is sometimes a slow ride, but there are times when everything comes crashing down at once. Slightly obsessed!Itachi. Clan massacre.


On his first mission as an ANBU captain, Itachi had found himself masked face to terrified face with a child. A little girl to be precise. Possibly around seven or eight years old, her pale fingers holding tight to a small white teddy bear.

He heard words leave her lips, and he imagined that they were probably pleas, but all he could do was stare at her, watch her pale face, as tears streamed down her dirtied face, and he tilted his head. It was only a little, not even enough to push his hair over a shoulder, or bangs into his eyes, but it was enough that those dark eyes blinked back at him.

Sasuke.

That was all he could think of. The dark hair, dark eyes, pale skin... even the way her tears fell. All he could think of was his younger brother.

Vaguley he heard the sound of one of his teammates calling behind him to finish the job. And so he stepped forward a little, still watching as those wide eyes stared up at him, ever curious through the sheen of tears as he lifted his katan.

He wondered at the curiosity of children then, as he brought his katan down, feeling it slice evenly into pale skin. It seemed weak when he thought about it. How trusting children were. He watched as the blood pooled around her, teddy bear falling limply from her fingers as her body twitched lightly in her last breaths. He wondered how children managed to live at all, always venturing out where they weren't needed. He wondered if this girl had stayed hidden while her family was killed, if they'd have left her alive. And he decided then that he'd never allow Sasuke to become like this. Weak and bleeding, dying at the feet of a monster.

All of this he wondered as he bent down and picked up the bloodied teddy bear. Quietly he wondered to himself if maybe the bear knew the answers to his questions. He seemed to have an intelligent look about him that Itachi had never seen before, and he could already hear the strong, angry remarks directed towards him from the bear who demanded to know the man that had destroyed his owner.

Itachi turned around, leading his team out of the massacred house, leaving all traces of their actions behind except for the bloodied stoop, and the bear he'd tucked safely inside of his shuriken pouch.

It wasn't long after he'd gotten home that Itachi had fished out the bloodied bear- Kane, as he'd taken to calling him- out from under his bed.

Sometimes now that he'd become everything his father had dreamed of, Itachi was unsure of what was left for him, and so he spent time with Kane.

In a lot of ways Kane reminded Itachi of Sasuke. Not in the way that Sasuke was perfect and innocent, and everything that Itachi had never been allowed to be, and never would be, but in that way that brown eyes surveyed him with an innocent trusting that no other would bestow upon him.

"Kane-kun..." He whispered almost huskily. He hadn't spoken to anyone but Kane in four days, "Father has taken to Sasuke... Trying to take him away from me."

He could almost see the sympathetic glint in Kane's eyes. The same look the bear had given him since the day Itachi had slain the little girl. Pale fingers moved through blood-matted fur, and he offered the stuffed toy what could almost be called a grin.

"No, Sasuke still likes me better," He whispered in response to a question only he could hear, "Father can never take that away from me. But he might change Sasuke." He admitted, fingers moving with a slight clumsiness that never showed in any other of the actions he practiced.

Another long pause and Itachi blinked at Kane, tilting his head a little, "You think Fater will turn him against me? Force him to be weak now?" He asked slowly, dark brows drawing together, "Kane-kun, you think that Father will take Sasuke away from me...?" He murmured, shaking his head as he drew the blood covered bear to his chest, "I won't let him. We won't let him. We'll make Sasuke stronger than anyone," He promised his bear.

It was something he'd thought about before, if Fugaku would take his brother away. But he'd been so sure that hs father already knew that Itachi owned Sasuke. That Sasuke was only for him to have.

But Kane hadn't been wrong before. In fact, Itachi thought that perhaps he'd even warned that little girl of the monster that had come to kill her. He thought back to that day, and to the way he'd been able to so easily destroy the young life of that child, and wondered if Sasuke would ever be able to do anything. He doubted it. Mikoto coddled him. Fugaku pushed him. But Sasuke was Itachi's. Nobody else deserved him.

And it's not like he could be imagining things. Kane agreed with him after all, and if two people thought it was true, well, that was confidence enough for him.

Itachi gave Kane one last soft pat, before returning the bear to it's private sleeping quarters under his bed, and moving to rise. His mother's voice was calling him downstairs, and so he went. Always the obedient son. They didn't need Sasuke. Even if they did, they weren't allowed to have him.

It was only a few nights later that Itachi stood over his brother's bed, watching as the child slept peacfully, unknowing of the presences in his room. Kane was held tightly in Itachi's arms. The bear had asked to see Sasuke, and Itachi, proud of his possession, had agreed, and brought Kane along this evening.

It was rather often that he found himself staring down at Sasuke, pale skin illuminated by the moonlight, dark har spread out against the white pillow, giving off the faint illusion of a halo.

"I know, he's perfect," He whispered to Kane with a slight nod, "And yes, beautiful too. But you can't have him either, Kane-kun," He said a little sternly, "All mine."

It hadn't taken long for Sasuke to master the Katon Karyuu Endan. He'd watched through his window as his brother had returned from the docks, covered in small burns and bruises (still looking as magnificently beautiful as he always did), and had ran to fetch their father.

It was then that Itachi knew something was wrong. He hadn't even needed Kane's voice from under the bed telling him that it was nearly time.

He had to take this all away, he had to save Sasuke. They were going to take him away. They were going to break him and never give him back... They were going to make him _weak _.

"I'm going to do it, Kane-kun," He whispered, nodding his head. He heard Kane's words of praise as they came his way, and he moved back towards his bed, laying on the floor, and watching the bear with slight contentment. "I'm going to save him."

He stood there, Kane tucked carefully and safely in his shuriken pouch once more as he watched the obvious fear in the eyes of his parents. The rest of the clan had been easy. They'd gone down without much of a fight, surprise apparent in their demeanor. And Shisui had been the easiest. His cousin full of trust, and barely worth his weight as a shinobi.

But this was it. He could hear a soft whimper escape his mother, and saw the set line of his father's jaw, and knew that the older man barely thought him capable. Little did he know that Itachi had become, with Kane's help, of course, the perfect killer. Exactly what Fugaku had always wanted.

"You're right, Kane-kun, this is what has to happen," He agreed with a slight nod, noting momentarily the shocked look on his father's face as the katana came down, swiping through the both of them, and leaving them to collapse, seething in a pool of their own blood. Itachi watched in slight curiosity at first as he noted the slight difference in colour, a small satisfied grin on his face.

"Perfect."

Itachi watched Sasuke as the child ran through the compound, heading towards home, brows drawn together as his brother was obviously aware that something was wrong.

"Let's go to him, Kane-kun, let's show him what we've done for him..."

And he did. He followed Sasuke back to their home, stood over their parent's bodies as his brother moved into the room.

"Aniki...?"

He heard the tinge of fear in his brother's voice as he stepped closer, perfect foot surrounded by filthy imperfect blood.

But the fear he heard, briefly he wondered if it was possible that Sasuke was fearing i him /i . He tossed the notion aside, and stepped a little closer to Sasuke, "Otouto," He drawled, watching his brother intently, "You have to become strong." He said, lifting a hand to cup that perfect, soft, beautiful cheek, before pulling his hand back. "Strong enough that you can even beat me."

It was then that Kane whispered into his ear, gave him the idea of how to help Sasuke, how to show the child what he'd done for him. For i them /i .

He focussed what was left of his largely depleted energy, and unleashed the Mangekyo Sharingan, activiating the Tsukiyomi technique.

"This is what I've done for you," He whispered, one hand coming back to idly stroke at Kane's fur, smearing more blood over the already messed bear.

He watched intently, expression never changing, as Sasuke fell to his knees, hands coming up to clutch at his head, and he screamed.

_I__'m saving you, Otouto._


End file.
